Idiot's Guides - Music Theory

by Michael Miller

  Here are the parameters:

  Use a 1:1 rhythmic ratio; both melodies should use the same rhythmic patterns.

  Only consonant harmonic intervals are allowed; no dissonant harmonies.

  The lower part must begin and end on the tonic of the key.

  The upper part must begin on either the first or the fifth of the key, and end on the tonic—either in unison with the bass part or an octave above.

  Between the melodies, rely heavily on intervals of thirds and sixths. Avoid octaves and unisons, except for the final note.

  Move each voice the shortest distance possible.

  Now let’s get started.

  Some composers like to write both melodic parts simultaneously; this enables them to employ various advanced techniques, such as sharing a contrapuntal melody between the two parts. However, for beginners it’s a lot easier to write the first part first and then complete the puzzle by adding the counterpoint melody. Which is exactly what we’ll do.

  We’ll start from the bottom up and create our first melody for the lower voice. (This is the staff labeled “2,” in bass clef.) Our melody is in 3/4 time, in the key of F Major. Because counterpoint works best when both parts have a lot of rhythmic and melodic movement, the melody is fairly lively, with a lot of eighth notes; it also starts and ends on the tonic note, F.

  Now things get interesting. We need to come up with a second, higher, melody that doesn’t clash with the lower melody—in fact, it should complement the first melody. You can’t create this second melody in a vacuum; counterpoint is more than just putting two unrelated melodies together. The two melodies have to fit together logically, and have to work together to suggest the underlying chords.

  The lower voice—the first of two parts in counterpoint.

  So let’s start at the start. The lower part started on an F, which is the tonic of the underlying key. According to our parameters, the upper melody can start either on the tonic or the fifth. We don’t want to get too fancy with our first counterpoint, so we’ll start the upper melody (the treble clef labeled “1”) on the F two octaves higher.

  In the first measure, the lower melody has a slight upward progression. To distinguish the upper melody from the lower part, we’ll give this second melody a slight downward progression. Remember, we want the intervals between the two voices to be pleasant-sounding, which means emphasizing the thirds and sixths, and avoiding dissonant intervals. We also want to avoid parallel movement, so we’ll leave the second note of the upper melody on F, which sounds good against the D on the bottom. (It’s a nice minor third.)

  For the third note, it’s time to introduce some motion—in this case, a downward motion, to contrast with the upward motion in the lower melody. We’ll move down from F to C, which is a nice singable fourth. It also forms a pleasing minor sixth against the E in the lower melody.

  The fourth and final note in the first measure also needs to show downward movement, so we’ll continue down from C to A, an easily singable minor third. The A also creates a pleasing major third against the F in the lower melody.

  Now, if you look closely, you’ll see that not only did we introduce contrary motion in the upper melody (down, in contrast to the upward-moving lower melody), but we also used the upper melody to suggest the underlying chord (F Major). The downward melody is actually an arpeggiated F Major chord, in its first inversion (F to C to A). What we have so far is shown here:

  Starting to add counterpoint to the first voice.

  DEFINITION

  Two melodies in counterpoint that move in opposite directions (one up; the other down) are said to have contrary motion.

  As you can see, creating counterpoint requires a lot of logical thinking—it’s a lot like thinking through the moves in a game of chess. The conventions are there and it’s all very logical, but you have to work hard to make it all fit together as it should.

  We’ll continue adding to the upper voice line, following the conventions note by note. When we’re finished, we have two complete melodies, in counterpoint to each other, like this:

  Your first counterpoint!

  Your first counterpoint is a good example of simple 1:1 rhythmic counterpoint. Of course, classical counterpoint requires that the rhythms differ between the two voices, so let’s continue to work with this example to create some rhythmic variations.

  How do you introduce different rhythms into the top melody? In this example, you can do it by essentially scooting all the notes to the left one beat. That is, you put the eighth-note figure on beat one instead of beat two of each measure, and extend the measure-ending quarter note into a half note.

  Here’s what this looks like:

  Your first counterpoint—but with different rhythms in the top melody.

  Note that this approach created eighth notes in the top part when the bottom part is using quarter notes, and vice versa. This provides a simple rhythmic variation without going whole-hog on complex interrelated rhythms.

  What to Avoid

  Whether you’re writing harmony or counterpoint, there are certain combinations of notes that you want to avoid. In most cases, you’ll avoid these combinations because they don’t sound right; still, it’s good to know the conventions in advance so you can keep from making rookie mistakes.

  Here’s what to avoid:

  Extended parallel movement. Parallel movement is when two or more voices move in the same direction by the exact same interval. Parallel movement is frowned upon in some types of music—but perfectly acceptable in others. For example, in classical music you want to avoid parallel movement in perfect fourths or fifths and octaves; in popular music, however, parallel fourths and fifths are permitted and even somewhat common—even if they do sound a little boring if carried on for too long. In any case, if you try hard, you can generally come up with something that sounds more interesting than extended parallel voices. Go ahead and use a little parallel movement if you have to, but then vary things to keep from getting boring.

  Big leaps. Whether you’re writing harmony or counterpoint, you should follow one of the key conventions used when creating melodies—keep the intervals between notes as small as possible. Avoid big leaps between notes; they not only sound disconnected, they’re also hard to play and sing. As with standard voice-leading, any interval larger than a fourth or fifth is probably too big a leap.

  Dissonant intervals—unless they resolve. In this case we’re talking about the intervals between different voices—and this is as much a practical consideration as anything else. For example, if you’re harmonizing an F Major seventh chord, don’t put the seventh and the root (E and F) together on close voices. Instead, put one of the notes in a lower voice, so there’s an octave or so of space between the two notes. That said, it’s okay to introduce this kind of dissonance, if you then resolve it. That means you can include dissonance in passing tones, or even at the end of phrases, but only if one of the voices then resolves to a more pleasing interval. For example, in the F Major seventh chord, the voice with the E might resolve to F.

  Exercises

  Exercise 15-1

  Find and correct the voice-leading errors in the following piece of harmony.

  Exercise 15-2

  Create two-voice harmony for the following melody, using half notes and quarter notes.

  Exercise 15-3

  Create a second melody part in counterpoint to the following melody.

  Exercise 15-4

  Based on the following chord progression, create a two-voice counterpoint.

  The Least You Need to Know

  Harmony is a vertical combination of notes within the underlying chord structure; counterpoint is an integrated series of horizontal melodies relating to the underlying chords.

  Harmony is facilitated when you vary chord voicings throughout a progression.

  Each harmony part must be singable on its own and follow established voice-leading conventions.

  Each melody within a counterpoint shoul
d be able to function as a standalone melody, and at the same time complement the other melodies.

  Whether you’re creating harmony or counterpoint, you should generally avoid extended movement in parallel fourths, fifths, or octaves—especially in classical music. (Popular music typically has fewer—and looser—conventions.)

  CHAPTER

  16

  Chord Substitutions and Turnarounds

  In This Chapter

  Learning to spice up boring chord progressions with extensions

  Discovering how to alter a chord’s bass note and play two chords simultaneously

  Mastering the art of chord substitution

  This section of the book is all about embellishing your music. You can embellish your melody with harmony and counterpoint (as you learned in the previous chapter), embellish individual notes (as you’ll learn in the next chapter), and embellish your chords and chord progressions. That’s what this chapter is all about.

  Even if you’re stuck with a boring I-IV-V progression, there is still a lot you can do to put your own personal stamp on things. For example, you don’t have to settle for precisely those chords; you can extend the chords, alter the bass line, and even substitute other chords for the originals. You’ll still maintain the song’s original harmonic structure—more or less—but you’ll really jazz up the way things sound.

  All this will impress your listeners and fellow musicians. A few key chord alterations and substitutions will make folks think you have the right touch—and that you really know your music theory!

  Extending a Good Thing

  The simplest way to spice up a boring chord progression is to use seventh chords, or even add a few extensions beyond that. As you learned back in Chapter 9, the basic chord is a triad consisting of the 1-3-5 notes. When you start adding notes on top of the triad—sevenths, ninths, and elevenths—you’re extending the chord upward.

  Chord extensions can make a basic chord sound lush and exotic. There’s nothing like a minor seventh or major ninth chord to create a really full, harmonically complex sound.

  Seventh chords—especially dominant seventh chords—are common in all types of music today. Sixths, ninths, and other extended chords are used frequently in modern jazz music—and in movie and television soundtracks that go for a jazzy feel. Pick up just about any jazz record from the 1950s on, and you’ll hear lots of extended chords. There are even a lot of rock and pop musicians—Steely Dan comes to mind—who embrace these jazz harmonies in their music. So why not use this technique yourself?

  NOTE

  Seventh chords have been part of the musical vocabulary from about the seventeenth century. There is a tendency to use the V7 and ii7 chords as much as or more than the triads on those degrees of the scale—even for the simplest musical genres, such as hymns and folk songs. In the blues, it is common to use seventh chords on every scale degree—even the tonic. Other extended chords (ninths, elevenths, and so forth) came into widespread use in the nineteenth century, and are still used in many forms of music today. For example, in many jazz compositions the ninth, eleventh, and thirteenth chords are used more often than triads and seventh chords.

  Here’s an example of how extended chords can make a simple chord progression sound more harmonically complex. All you have to do is take the standard I-vi-IV-V progression in the key of C (C-Am-F-G) and add diatonic sevenths to each triad. That produces the following progression: CM7-Am7-FM7-G7—two major sevenths, a minor seventh, and a dominant seventh. When you play this progression—and invert some of the chords to create a few close voicings—you get a completely different sound out of that old workhorse progression. And it wasn’t hard to do at all!

  The standard I-vi-IV-V progression (in C) embellished with seventh chords (and some close voicings).

  You can get the same effect by adding ninths and elevenths to your chords while staying within the song’s underlying key. The more notes you add to your chords, the more complex your harmonies—and the fuller the sound.

  Altering the Bass

  Here’s another neat way to make old chords sound new—and all you have to do is change the note on the bottom of the chord.

  Back in Chapter 9 we touched briefly on the concept of slash chords, more properly called altered bass chords. With an altered bass chord, the top of the chord stays the same, but the bass, as the name implies, is altered.

  Some folks call these chords slash chords because the altered bass note is indicated after a diagonal slash mark, like this: G/D. You read the chord as “G over D,” and you play it as a G chord with a D in the bass.

  Examples of slash chords.

  You can use altered bass chords to achieve several different effects, including the following:

  By putting one of the three main notes (but not the root) in the bass, you dictate a particular chord inversion.

  By treating the bass note as a separate entity, you can create moving bass lines with increased melodic interest.

  By adding a nonchord note in the bass, you create a different chord with a different harmonic structure.

  Slash chords are used a lot in jazz, and also in more sophisticated popular music. Listen to Carole King’s Tapestry album, and you’ll hear a lot of altered bass (she’s a big fan of the minor seventh chord with the fourth in the bass); the same thing with a lot of Beach Boys songs, especially those on the legendary Pet Sounds album.

  Two Chords Are Better Than One

  An altered bass chord uses a diagonal slash mark to separate the chord from the bass note. When you see a chord with a horizontal line between two different chord symbols, like a fraction, you’re dealing with a much different beast.

  This type of notation indicates that two chords are to be played simultaneously. The chord on top of the fraction is placed on top of the pile; the chord on the bottom is played underneath. For example, when you see you know to play a C Major chord on top of a full G Major chord.

  Examples of compound chords.

  When you play two chords together like this, you have what’s called a compound chord. You use compound chords to create extremely complex harmonies—those that might otherwise be too complex to note using traditional extensions.

  One Good Chord Can Replace Another

  When you’re faced with a boring chord progression, you may have no alternative but to substitute the chords as written with something a little less boring. The concept of chord substitution is common in jazz (those jazz musicians get bored easily!) and other modern music.

  Chord substitution is a simple concept. You pull a chord out of the song, and replace it with another chord. The substitute chord should have a few things in common with the chord it replaces, not the least of which is its place in the song’s underlying harmonic structure. So if you replace a dominant (V) chord, you want to use a chord that also leads back to the tonic (I). If you replace a major chord, you want to replace it with another major chord or a chord that uses some of the same notes as the original chord.

  The key thing is to substitute an ordinary chord or progression with one that serves the same function, but in a more interesting manner.

  Diatonic Substitution

  The easiest form of chord substitution replaces a chord with a related chord either a third above or a third below the original. This way you keep two of the three notes of the original chord, which provides a strong harmonic basis for the new chord.

  This type of substitution is called diatonic substitution, because you’re not altering any of the notes of the underlying scale; you’re just using different notes from within the scale for the new chord.

  For example, the I chord in any scale can be replaced by the vi chord (the chord a third below) or the iii chord (the chord a third above). In the key of C, this means replacing the C Major chord (C-E-G) with either A minor (A-C-E) or E minor (E-G-B). Both chords share two notes in common with the C chord, so the replacement isn’t too jarring.

  Replacing the I chord (C Major) with the vi (A
minor) and the iii (E minor)—lots of notes in common.

  You can replace extended chords in the same manner, and actually end up with more notes in common. For example, you can replace CM7 with either Am7 or Em7, both of which have three notes in common with the original chord.

  Major Chord Substitutions

  Diatonic substitution is the theory; you’d probably rather know some hard-and-fast rules you can use for real-world chord substitution. Don’t worry; they exist, based partially on diatonic substitution theory.

  The following table presents three different substitutions you can make for a standard major chord. Remember that the root of the substitute chord must stay within the underlying scale, even if some of the chord notes occasionally wander about a bit.

  Major Chord Substitutions

  Substitution

  Example (for the C Major Chord)

  Minor chord a third below

  Minor 7 chord a third below

  Minor chord a third above

  The first substitution in the table is the standard “down a third” diatonic substitution. The second substitution is the same thing, but uses an extended chord (the minor seventh) for the substitution. The third substitution is the “up a third” diatonic substitution, as discussed previously.

  Minor Chord Substitutions